The Spanish Autocross Championship held its fifth round of the 2022 season in Arteixo on 6 and 7 August. The competition in the town of A Coruña, considered the main event of the series, gathered one more year a large crowd in the facilities of the circuit 'José Ramón Losada', on whose track competed more than one hundred and thirty drivers distributed among the different categories of the competition. As usual this season, Speed Car was represented in four of them and three different Industrias Lahoz models achieved outstanding results. In the Junior category, the Xtrem added another victory thanks to Pol Durán, in Division III the TTR finished in third position with Eduard Bañeres at the wheel and the TTX won the 1.6 Trophy driven by Joan Enric de María.
For the second race in a row, Division III exceeded its record number of participants so far this season in Arteixo. Among them there were three drivers with two different Speed Car models, joining the usual presence of Eduard Bañeres' TTR with another unit in the hands of Iosu Alberdi and the TTX driven by Joan Enric de María.
The best classified in the final was Eduard Bañeres, who completed the four laps in third position to add his fifth podium in as many national competitions this year. With this result, the Speed Car TTR driver remains in second position in the overall standings of the Spanish Division III Championship.
The TTX of Joan Enric de María crossed the finish line just behind. In his first participation in the championship this season, the fast Catalan driver finished fourth overall and won the 1.6 Trophy with the Speed Car. The triple presence of single seaters made by Industrias Lahoz was completed by Basque driver Iosu Alberdi, who finished sixth in his Speed Car TTR.
With nine vehicles among the forty-five participants, Speed Car was once again the most represented brand in the always competitive Car Cross category. However, on this occasion luck was not on the side of the drivers who competed in Arteixo driving the Xtrem and Wonder made by Industrias Lahoz. The weekend was especially unlucky for Joan Salichs, who arrived in Arteixo at the top of the championship standings. An engine failure on Saturday, after having set the fifth fastest time in the timed practice sessions, ended up costing the Catalan driver dearly, as he was unable to reach the final and dropped to third place overall in the championship, although he still has a chance to fight for the title in the three remaining rounds of the season.
Just ahead of Salichs in the qualifying run was another Wonder, driven by Juanjo Moll, who reached the final in ninth place after finishing second, fourth and seventh in the heats. Unfortunately his presence in the decisive race was very brief, as he had to retire in the first few metres due to a contact in which he damaged a ball joint of his Speed Car.
The best result of the Speed Car drivers was achieved by Arnau Biosca, who finished thirteenth in the final with his Xtrem after having been tenth in the timed practice sessions and eleventh in the qualifying rounds. With the points scored in Arteixo, Biosca is now ninth overall in the championship.
The Speed Car Xtrem already have five victories in as many races this season in the Junior category. In Arteixo, Pol Durán won for the fourth time this year after a spectacular comeback drive. With this new win, Pol consolidates his position at the top of the overall championship standings, followed by his teammate Quim González, who finished ninth in Arteixo and it's now thirty-three points behind him.
Also scoring points was Josep Aranda, who qualified for the final in the second Galician round although he was unable to complete any laps in the decisive race of the weekend.
-> CarCross Junior results (pdf file)
Josep Aranda is still in the fight for the title in the very close Promotion category despite not having much luck at the Arteixo weekend. The Wonder driver started very well, with the third fastest time in qualifying followed by two second places in the two Saturday heats. However, problems in the third heat, held on Sunday morning and in which he classified eleventh, conditioned his performance and relegated him to eighth place on the starting grid for the final, a position he was unable to improve over the eight laps of a race that was very competitive and eventful, with a good number of contacts between several of its protagonists. In any case, Josep maintains second place in the championship standings, seventeen points behind the leader with seventy-eight points still up for grabs in the final three rounds of the season.
Pictures: CEAX RFEdA press service
